Hearing and Understanding
by kittikat8531
Summary: After hearing the Phantom has been captured, Christine goes to free him even as he tries to be selfless by pushing her away. Raoul shows up too. E/C, some fop-bashing. Please R&R.


AN: I recently developed a deep obsession for this movie after watching with my sisters for the first time. I never understood how Christine could choose Raoul over the Phantom, who is a million times cooler, especially after Raoul made her Phantom-bait. This one-shot is a result of that obsession and opinion.

Disclaimer: As with anything else, I don't own Phantom of the Opera.

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Word had reached her that the elusive Phantom of the Opera, the Opera Ghost that had tormented the Opera Populaire, had been captured and was currently in prison awaiting trial. She had spoken with Madame Giry after the debacle at the opera house- Christine knew that something had to be done.

Much to her fortune, it seemed that the guard on duty that night had chosen to drink in celebration. She found them sprawled on the ground insensate upon her arrival, one with a dark bottle in hand. She shook her head and carefully took the keys before taking the stairs to the dungeon below.

Her mysterious Angel of Music was the only one there. As he came into view, she realized he was leaning against the wall while sitting on the meager cot, eyes closed, dressed exactly as he had been when she had first seen him. He still wore his white mask, but the other half of his face showed several bruises and cuts.

"What have they done to you?"

He didn't move or look at her. "I was being difficult and they felt that physical violence might resolve that. Indeed, one of the imbeciles, having attended that farce of my opera, realized that hitting me here" –he tapped his finger against the mask, just below his eye- "would be more effective."

"I'm so sorry," she murmured.

He shrugged elegantly. "There are worse things. They were gracious enough to allow me to maintain my mask."

"Angel, I'm sorry," she cried. "They would never have been able to find you if it hadn't been for me."

"And out of guilt, you've come to see me in my prison?"

"No!" she protested. "I wouldn't come to… to gloat, or anything. I'm here to free you."

He finally opened his eyes. "Don't toy with me. You wouldn't help me after what I did."

Her gaze fell to the ground. "I should never have hurt you like I did. It's my fault you reacted so badly. You don't belong locked up, Angel."

"I am no angel."

"You're my Angel of Music," she said firmly. "You taught me and inspired me and made sure I wasn't alone. You may have done some awful things, but people drove you to do so."

"You've been speaking with Madame Giry."

Christine nodded. "After that night, she told me what she knew about you. If I had known…"

"I did not want you to remain out of pity or obligation," he frowned. "My past is my own, and of no concern to you."

She drew the keys from the pocket of her gown and began searching for the correct one. "Of course it is. You matter to me."

He watched her cautiously. "You have your Raoul. I am of no importance."

She met his eyes over her task and recognized the barely-suppressed madness lurking behind them. "Raoul and I… we could never be."

"You love him."

"As a child loves a dear friend," she sighed. "He never set me aflame or inspired me. He was a link to my father."

"Yet you agreed to marry him."

She wished he wouldn't be so cryptic. "I thought I truly loved him. I didn't understand then." She finally heard the lock click as the door swung open and had to muffle an exclamation of surprise and happiness. "Let's go."

He didn't get up. "To what point and purpose?"

Christine stared at him, puzzled. "You don't want to stay here, do you?"

"I have nothing left out there."

"You have your music," she frowned.

The Phantom shook his head. "I have not sung since you left. There is no music left in my soul."

"I don't believe that," she disagreed. "Angel of Music, hide no longer. Come to me, strange Angel!" she sang softly.

He ignored her, closing his eyes once more. "Music does not draw me anymore. I am not an Angel of Music."

"I have nothing else to call you."

"Ghost, phantom, even monster?" he suggested drily. "That is what all others call me."

"No. What is your name?"

He let his mind travel back, searching for a name he had not heard for a very long time. "Erik. I was called Erik, once."

"Erik. Please, come with me. Do you have anywhere you can go?"

He nodded. "I have countless ways to my home. They have sealed the entrances they know, so they assume I cannot return. They did not realize by sealing the known openings, they would be unable to check, and I already have cut those from my domain."

"Then why stay here?" she demanded. "I know you despise being locked up. Don't you want to leave?"

"Of course I want to leave!" he roared. "I would give nearly anything to never be in a place like this again, but there is nothing for me in this world! They will see me dead for what I have done, and I welcome that."

"How can there be nothing for you?" she frowned, glancing toward the entry and hoping his shouting had not roused the guards. "I'm here for you."

"You're not mine," he scoffed. "You left. You chose him."

"Erik, I left him! I couldn't be with Raoul, not with how I felt about you! Don't you understand?!"

He leapt to his feet and stood directly in front of her, their faces centimeters apart. "Do not joke, Christine. I may not be so generous as to allow you to leave me a second time."

"Then don't," she replied calmly. "I came back because I love you, and I'm sorry it took me so long to understand. I should've realized the moment we came face to face."

He didn't let her continue, kissing her abruptly instead. There was love, passion, desperation. When he pulled back, his expression was a bit wild. "If you mean to leave me again, do so right this instant or I will not have the strength to allow it."

"I'm not going to," she reassured him. "That's why I'm here, Erik. I finally understand what I want."

An abrupt bumping sound above drew the couple's attention, and his composure returned. "We need to leave before they discover you are here," he told her coolly. "We can talk more once we're somewhere safe."

"Erik…"

He shook his head. "Not now. For the moment, speaking will wait. Right now, we have to leave."

She nodded and moved to the door as he searched for his few belongings, quickly claiming them. He peered up the stairs after relocking his cell and then drew her after him as he climbed silently, without even a hint of rustling cloth or a scrape of shoes on the stone. She took care to move quietly as well, drawing on the grace born of years of Madame Giry's dance lessons. Just before the door, he returned the keys to the guard.

"Let them think the mysterious Phantom escaped a locked prison," he murmured as they stepped out.

Once in the streets, he led her through back streets and dark alleys, all the while moving surely in the direction of the Opera Populaire. Though the opera house had been closed after the disaster, the lower vaults had been unharmed by the fire that had gutted the rest of the building.

Ordering her to remain for a moment, he knocked on a few flagstones before lifting one to the side, revealing a spiral staircase underneath. Descending, they arrived at the edge of the underground lake that surrounded his home. He pressed one of the levers in the wall and the candelabras rose from the water, bursting into flame. The sudden light revealed the small boat. Erik helped her in before pushing off from the miniature dock, making his way to his home.

It seemed an eternity to Christine before they reached the main room. He immediately closed the entryway, hiding them away.

"Can we talk now?" she asked cautiously.

He nodded brusquely before taking a seat at his organ and shrugging off his jacket and vest. His fingers rested on the ivory keys, but he could not find the music to play. "If that is what you desire."

"I'm sorry, Erik. I didn't mean to hurt you, and I'll never forgive myself for what I did during the opera. You didn't deserve what happened to you."

"It was your precious Raoul's idea, I presume."

She nodded slowly. "He said it was the only way I could be free, so we could be together. He wouldn't listen when he said I didn't want to do it."

"I cannot respect a man that would offer the woman he claims to love as bait," Erik stated coldly.

"I know," she whispered. "Oh, I thought he was doing it for me like he said at first, but now… I think he just wanted to get rid of you because he knew I cared for you."

"Do you?"

One brow lifted curiously at her embarrassed expression. "Yes… is that strange? Raoul kept trying to tell me that I should be terrified of you, but I couldn't. I always thought you would never hurt me."

"And I wouldn't," Erik replied briskly. "Not intentionally, at the very least, though I'm afraid at times my temper runs away with me. I spent years with you, when there was no one else around, and never did a thing to harm you. Why should you be frightened?"

"I never was," she murmured, hesitantly taking a seat nearby. "I thought you were an angel, with your beautiful voice, and you were always there for me. I guess the only time you frightened me was when…"

It took him a moment to comprehend. "When Buquet fell from the rafters and terrified everyone. When you went to the roof with the man you claimed to love and begged him to protect you from me."

"You were there, weren't you?"

He nodded. "I saw you leave, and I followed you. I heard the entire conversation."

"I'm so sorry. I never should have doubted you."

"Yet you came to me whenever I sang, without thought or hesitation, and with no apparent thought for your Raoul."

"When you sing… that's all there is. The rest of the world is gone, or doesn't matter. It's just you."

He sighed and rose, pacing the open area. His face hurt abominably, but there was little he could do to soothe it while the mask was in place. Unconsciously, his hand rose to the tender area.

"If you need to take off your mask, it's all right. It doesn't bother me."

He smiled faintly before vanishing into one of the other rooms. When he returned, he held a small sack of ice. Slowly, he eased the mask away from his disfiguration before applying it. She had a brief glimpse of bruising far worse than the ones that marred the other side of his face. "I appreciate the concern, however misguided."

She began to protest, but bowed her head and accepted quietly instead. "I see it will take time to prove myself. I made a horrible mistake and now I pay the price."

"If you remain here, you will never be free," he warned. "I said this to you once before. Heed me now better than you did then."

"I can't escape from you. I never will. As you say, I said this before. Maybe you should believe it now."

"I don't believe that was the manner in which you meant it originally."

"It was, though I didn't understand it then. Raoul didn't understand why I was so drawn for you, even after knowing what you were capable of."

He opened a small chest and began drawing out a few jars and bottles. It took her a moment to realize they were medicines. Taking a shallow bowl, he tipped a few items in before mixing it into a light paste, which he spread on a scrap of linen and placed against the scarring under his eye. He settled his mask atop it a moment later. "I am capable of a great many things, a great deal of darkness. Do not misunderstand that."

"You only did such things when pushed," Christine protested. "You killed men that locked you in a cage, and Buquet was always looking for you. You were defending yourself."

"And when I kidnapped you?"

Her eyes dropped. "You knew about the soldiers in the theatre, and I had just betrayed you. What other choice did you really have?"

"You are far too forgiving for your own good," Erik decided as he uncovered a hidden cabinet and poured a snifter of brandy for himself. He tilted the bottle in her direction as an offer, but she shook her head. "How long should I expect to wait before we hear your Raoul above looking for you?"

"I don't know if he'll come," she replied. "Yes, I left without speaking to him, but we had just discussed things and I told him I couldn't marry him."

"A spurned suitor is dangerous," he reminded easily, leaning back in his seat. "That is a lesson you should already have learned. I believe he does care for you, though if it is love or not I cannot easily say, for I have little experience with that emotion."

"You think he'll come here?"

"He may try. I long since removed any entrances that were known to any beside myself, though I shall of course inform Antoinette once the hunt for me has died down some, or I may ask you to do so if you remain. If he does discover a way in, I shall simply escort him out and destroy that one as well."

"He'll want me to return with him," she murmured. "I don't want to go back."

"I shall not force you to do anything you do not desire," he promised.

"That's new," she said, a faint smile edging onto her face.

He shrugged. "I am attempting to be noble. After all, my previous actions hardly produced the desired results, did they?"

"CHRISTINE! CHRISTINE?"

"Ah, speak of the Devil," Erik said pleasantly as he sipped his drink. "I see I shall be destroying all old entrances and creating new ones instead. Perhaps he has been following you?"

"I don't hear anyone else," Christine frowned as she chewed on her lower lip. "No police or anything."

He nodded after listening for a moment. "Only one person, yes. Maybe he hopes to reason with me, beg me to return you to him."

"But… you didn't take me."

"I doubt he sees it that way. Your Raoul convinced himself long ago that when you did odd things it was due to my influence, though how I may have persuaded you to rescue me from prison I know not."

"He's not mine," she muttered.

He rose and pressed the lever to open the gates, though he left the portcullis down. Raoul came splashing in, looking very much like he had been drowned, and flattened himself against the iron grid work. "I see you fell into my water trap a second time, Monsieur le Vicomte."

"Water trap?" she asked in a low tone.

"Let Christine go!"

Erik shook her head. "Such poor manners for one of the nobility. Miss Daaé is here of her own free will. If you wish her return, she is the one to speak with." He returned to his seat, seemingly disinterested in the proceedings.

"What are you doing here, Raoul?" she asked quietly.

"Why, to free you from the monster, of course! Come home, Christine. I'm sorry for our argument earlier."

"He's not a monster!" she protested. "And I'm not going back. I don't belong in your world, Raoul. What would I do as a countess? Music is my life, but a lady is not allowed such pursuits."

Raoul rounded on Erik. "What have you done to her?!"

"I?" Erik said idly. "I have done nothing. Indeed, I have tried a great deal to dissuade her, but she seems quite determined. She chose to come to me, Monsieur le Vicomte."

"The police are looking for you," he threatened. "Release her and I won't tell them where to find you."

"I have already said that I am not responsible for her decision. As for your ability to inform the police of my location, I have already sealed the entrance you used. They will be unable to find it."

"How?!" he demanded. "You haven't gone anywhere!"

"All things in my realm are controlled from this room, Vicomte. If I decide it is to be sealed, it shall be, and it takes only a moment to do so. I shall, of course, escort you from my domain if you so desire, but there will be no returning from the same route. Now, perhaps you should speak with Miss Daaé rather than bellow at me for things I am not responsible for."

Raoul growled, but faced Christine again. "Come home, darling. Surely you can't want to stay here."

"Raoul, I already told you I won't. Why can you never heed what I say? I told you from the beginning that I can't leave Erik, but you don't seem to hear it!"

"What sort of lies have you been filling her mind with, you monster!" the Vicomte snapped, drawing his sword. "Come out and face me like a man!"

Erik rolled his eyes and flipped another lever. The ground beneath Raoul's feet fell away, and he had to drop his sword to tread water and avoid drowning. "Listen to me, and listen well, for I am in no mood to continue this game: Christine made this decision on her own, and would not listen to me when I attempted to convince her otherwise. I have already told her she is free to choose for herself, and she has made that choice quite clear. Now, I personally have no wish to allow your continued existence, but I imagine she might be unhappy with me if I killed you, so I shall not. I suggest you leave before what patience I have left wears thin and I forget that decision."

"Christine, darling, surely you can't want to live with this for the rest of your life!" Raoul pleaded.

She shook her head. "You never understood, did you? I've tried telling you, but you don't care or don't listen. I made this choice a long time ago, but you persuaded me for a time to change it. As a result, I betrayed the only person that was with me after my father died, and I nearly destroyed everything. Now, I'm making amends for my mistakes in hopes of gaining back what I lost. Go home, Raoul. I'm staying here."

"What has that monster done to you?!"

"Stop calling him that! He didn't do anything. He wouldn't."

"Oh, I don't know about that," Erik drawled easily, his temper easing as the medicines began to take effect, dulling the pain. "Had this been my idea, though, rest assured that she would not be cognizant enough to speak with you. I know how to hold Miss Daaé to me without force."

"And yet she got away before," Raoul snorted. "You are not so good as you seem to believe."

"You might recall, Monsieur, that it was I who permitted you to leave during our last encounter. If I had chosen to persist, she would not have resisted me. I have drawn her to me without effort many a time before."

"I love her! Isn't that enough?"

"Not if she does not love you in return. Though, in truth I do not believe you really love her. When a man truly loves a woman, he does not offer her as bait to capture a rival."

"You don't know anything about us!" Raoul shouted.

"He knows what I told him," Christine interjected. "I don't love you that way, Raoul. You're my friend, not the man I love. Please, can't you try to accept that?"

"And what about the next time he terrifies you? He's more monster than man, killing indiscriminately!"

"That's not at all true," Erik smirked. "I don't kill indiscriminately- only when it is merited."

"Christine, you ran from him in _terror_ during _Il Muto_. You begged for me to protect you."

"I was caught off guard. Yes, it was terrible, but it was never Erik that scared me. It had just been so sudden. He would never hurt me."

"What about when he kidnapped you from the stage? Do you mean to tell me you weren't scared?"

"I was scared of doing the performance in the first place! You wouldn't listen to me, even when I said that it was wrong! I never wanted him to be caught or hurt!" Christine shouted. "You never listen to me!"

Erik placed a hand on her shoulder to calm her. "As you can see, Monsieur, she has made her decision. Would you like me to escort you from my home, or will you be able to find your own way?"

Raoul finally managed to find a solid place to stand, leaning against the iron bars. "You're manipulating her," he accused. "She doesn't know what she's saying."

"I assure you, Vicomte, she is in complete command of her faculties. I have already stated that the difference would be quite clear if I were truly behind her choice. Tonight, however, every decision made has been hers and hers alone."

"Go home, Raoul," Christine said tiredly. "I'm staying here."

Erik faced her fully and noted the exhaustion in her eyes. "Get some sleep. I'll see that he makes it out of here safely."

She nodded and made her way to the bedroom. "Thank you, Erik. Good-bye, Raoul."

Erik carefully coiled one of his lassos and hung it at his side before facing the other man. "Come, I will guide you back to the surface."

"Why should I trust you?"

"I have promised Christine that this will be her choice. She wants you to return to your home, and so I am guiding you from mine. I will go so far as to swear that as long as you do not attempt me harm I will do the same."

"Then why that?" he asked, gesturing at the weapon.

"As you say, the police are looking for me. It would be foolish to venture out unprepared, and I do not trust you any more than you trust me," Erik said easily.

"You wanted her to stay here all along."

"Of course." Erik began untying the small boat in preparation. "I have made that clear for some time, but this time I left it up to her. She chose to come here- I did not force the issue."

"Will I ever see her again?"

"That I do not know. She is not a prisoner, but she may choose not to return to the world above. Are you willing to swear that you will do me no injury as I guide you, or shall I simply leave you out there to rot?"

Christine reappeared in the entryway. "You're still here?"

"What's wrong?" Erik asked softly.

"I couldn't rest," she admitted. "Can I come with you?"

"The boat has room for only two," Erik warned. "There are other ways, but they are long and dark. You would be more comfortable here."

She shook her head. "I'll come too. Please, I need to make sure."

He nodded, accepting her choice. "Very well." He raised the portcullis, allowing Raoul entry. "The other ways are all through here."

Raoul waded in as Erik sent Christine to find something warmer to wear. She returned wrapped in a large cloak, and passed two more to him. He handed the second to the dripping Vicomte. "The passages are cold, Monsieur, and you are soaked."

"No thanks to you."

Erik shrugged. "You went where you should not. I am not responsible for that. If you do not desire unpleasant things, you should not enter my realm unguided."

"Why are you being so nice?" he asked suspiciously.

"Whether you choose to believe it or not, I am not so horrible as you seem to think unless you wish me ill."

Erik returned to the edge of the waters to retie the boat before they set off. Christine looked at Raoul helplessly as she took a seat, trying to make him understand her choice. He simply watched as the Phantom moved silently around his abode.

She sighed and looked away, unsure of what to do to repair their friendship. She heard him shout and glanced up- directly at the muzzle of a pistol.

Erik, too, faced, him, and his hand fell automatically to the lasso at his side. "Do not dare harm her."

Raoul dragged Christine to her feet and shifted so that the pistol was aimed at Erik instead. "Now, Christine will come with me, or I will kill you where you stand and rid the world of a monster."

"This seems eerily familiar," Erik snarled as he lifted his hands. "Was it not I that threatened your life before, to get her to stay? Now you threaten mine to force her to leave."

"No, Raoul!" she cried, tugging at her arm. "No. Leave him alone. He hasn't done anything to deserve this. I made this decision, not him!"

"Then un-make it!" he challenged. "Come back with me or I'll shoot."

"How can you make me choose again?" she demanded, tears forming in her eyes. "I don't want either of you to be hurt! Let me go! He spared your life; how can you try to kill him?!"

"He's a monster that should have been destroyed a long time ago!" Raoul growled. "Now, are you coming, or do I kill him?"

"No, no, I can't…"

"I guess she doesn't care for your life as much as she does for mine," he gloated as he watched his rival. "I guess this is your end."

He began to pull the trigger, but Christine managed to knock the gun with her shoulder, causing him to miss. Erik was moving in a flash, the Punjab lasso slicing in the air in a heartbeat even as Christine cried out in pain.

The bullet had ricocheted off the stone ceiling and hit her, and blood was oozing from the wound in her side. Erik's glare intensified as he pulled the pistol from the other man's hand and dashed to her side.

He shoved the heavy cloak aside to assess the damage as Raoul trembled in shock. "I didn't mean to hurt her…"

"Then you should have listened!" Erik bellowed. "Instead, you refused to hear what she was trying to say, and now she's injured because of your idiocy. Leave, _now_, or I will kill you, and nothing will make me regret it." He reached for the chest of medicines as he pressed a thick pad against the wound to slow the bleeding.

Raoul turned and fled, thrashing through the waters. Erik watched his progress for a moment before activating another lever, sealing the opening and reopening the entrance he had used. He would close it once he was gone.

"Are you all right?" he asked harshly.

She shuddered against his hands. "It hurts…"

He nodded. "It's in a sensitive area, but the bleeding is already slowing and it missed anything vital. It just grazed you." He tore away the fabric of the gown so he could work more easily and carefully threaded a needle after holding it over one of the nearby candles. "This will be unpleasant, but I need to close this before you lose any more blood."

He worked as quickly as he could, purposefully ignoring her cries. Once finished, he poured a measure of alcohol over the stitches to prevent infection. "Are you done?" she whispered.

"Yes, that's about it beside bandaging it, but you'll have to undress for that. I imagine you'll want some privacy." He lifted her and set her on his bed before lying the supplies on the nearby table. "I can assist you if you desire, but if you would rather I not I will prepare something for you to eat."

"Can you just help unbutton the gown?" she asked quietly. "I can handle it from there."

He rose to collect a long nightgown from a nearby bureau before gesturing for her to turn. He deftly undid the buttons just far enough for her to remove the gown and then left, knowing she would be able to handle it well enough- the wound was not so inconveniently placed as to make it difficult for her to bandage it herself.

He was preparing a spiced beef broth when she emerged from his room, the nightgown showing no signs of blood. He breathed a sigh of relief, glad that changing hadn't pulled the stitches too badly. She had also found a chamber robe to put over the top against the chill of the caverns.

"You're not going to go after Raoul, are you?"

He frowned as he passed her a cup of the broth. "I should. His foolishness could have killed you."

"He didn't mean to," she murmured as she took a sip. "He just didn't understand."

Erik closed his eyes and took several deep breathes, attempting to settle his temper. "If you do not want me to, I will not hurt him," he said finally. "Regardless of how much I believe he deserves it."

"Thank you," she sighed. "I'm sorry he tried to kill you. I thought he would understand better."

He shook his head. "It was not for myself that I was worried."

She set the mug aside with a yawn. "I'm so tired…"

"Sleeping is the best medicine for such an injury."

She nodded as she began to return to the bed. "Can you play for me until I fell asleep?"

He nearly denied her automatically, but changed his mind. He could already feel the urge for music welling up in him. "What would you like to hear?"

"That song you sang, when I came here the first time," she requested. "I'm afraid I don't remember what it was called."

"It was 'Music of the Night', I believe," he told her before placing her in the bed when she continued to stand in the doorway.

"Yes, that. Can you sing it again? It was beautiful." Her eyes were already half-closed, and it was clearly taking effort for her to remain awake.

"I will," he promised. "Now get some rest." He took his seat at the organ and began the opening notes, letting the music flow freely once more. "Welcome back," he murmured before he sang.

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AN: So, what did you think? Please let me know- I love reviews and I'm always willing to hear what my readers have to say. I take anything: questions, comments, concerns, constructive criticism, etc. So let me know!


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